How to Handle a Trouble Maker

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes,and I will continue to rejoice." Philippians 1:15-18

Interesting way Paul handles controversy in his workplace. There were others who were preaching Christ with false motives. Thismeans his co-workers were working out of envy and rivalry. Their motives were selfishness, and they were not sincere in their approach. They were also trying to stir up trouble for Paul because of his chain… his weakness. Whatthey were preaching about Christ waswith wrong motives. Paul’s perspective is amazing … Christ is still being preaching which gave Paul the reason to complain, no rejoice!

People show up in our workplaces with wrong motives all the time. There are some who will be envious and even selfish. There will be some whose motives are about what they can gain instead of what they can give. There will be some who will even try and stir up conflict and make our jobs more difficult. Whatever will we do with the troublemakers? If we are not careful these troublemakers can take our peace, and we can ever become complainers.

What if we started rejoicing amid our workplace? What if we found the reasons to rejoice instead of allowing the troublemakers to cloud our judgment? Paul did not seem to waste energy or time being consumed. He recognized their motives, but he did not allow them to interpret his work or calling. Instead he rejoiced. Rejoicing replaces the negativity in our lives withthe things that matter. Rejoicing empowers us to see the greater calling and bigger picture of our lives rather than being held back by the troublemakers. Continue, faith leader, no matter how difficult it is to always rejoice.